Niko Lalos speaks with the Saints media following Day 19 of training camp.
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00:00 All right, so fourth quarter of a lifetime during that preseason game. How'd that feel?
00:03 Great. I mean just getting the opportunity to play is always fun
00:07 The opportunity to capitalize is even more fun. So I had a blast doing it
00:12 How big was it to not only like work yourselves into those positions, but be able to finish?
00:17 I know that was a big emphasis that Dennis Allen has talked about a lot. Oh, yeah, that's always huge
00:21 I think that's always a big part of the game at this level
00:24 I think a lot of guys can always like get in the right spots, but finishing is a whole nother animal
00:28 And I think it's always great when you can finish plays after working so hard on throughout the week
00:34 Yeah
00:41 Yeah, yeah, I got a lot of support and a lot of people reaching out. So that was cool to see
00:46 So a lot of people are behind me
00:58 Yeah, I was definitely I was definitely tired
01:00 I mean when you get a lot of pass rush reps back to back to back like that
01:04 It's definitely gonna sneak up on you. So you can get tired sometimes out there. You just gotta push through
01:08 Great I think I probably had some of the best camp and preseason in my career, honestly
01:17 Um, I got a tribute that to being able to play in the XFL and develop more
01:21 Just like getting those extra reps in the spring really helped me come along. So I think it's really translated to right now
01:27 It's a cliche, but making the most of your opportunity seems like a great goal by the horns there, right?
01:34 Yeah, absolutely. It's it's definitely cliche, but I think it hits the nail on the head
01:38 So definitely you're not there's not many opportunities because there's just so many guys so making the most of it's definitely important
01:43 When you have like a big moment like that like you had in that in that game
01:47 Obviously consistency is the next question that all the coaching staff is looking for. How do you prove that as you move forward?
01:53 Just just show up and keep your process going just show up day in and day out do the same things because
01:58 At the end of the day, I think it's about the process and if you keep the same process
02:02 You can kind of keep that consistent end result at the end of the day
02:05 So that's what the way I look at it
02:07 You mentioned that you feel like this is some of the best camp that you've had
02:10 Where do you feel like you're different now than you were maybe just a year ago? Um, just
02:15 reading and reacting quicker
02:17 processing things on run game and pass rush
02:21 Being like a step quicker. I guess you could say because we're not you're just seeing things. It's almost like seeing the matrix
02:26 Everything's kind of slows down. Yeah, everything's kind of slows down
02:29 That just kind of come with reps or is there are there people that have kind of helped you be able to further develop?
02:34 That as well both. Um, I definitely got a contribute to the d-line
02:38 Everyone in that room super supportive and super helpful
02:41 BY and Todd grant them helped me a lot too
02:44 And then people like coach has lit and mom's up in the XFL and chip Carver where my coaches and they helped me
02:50 And then so whenever they can slow things down for you and you can just kind of take step back and learn
02:55 It definitely goes a long way
02:58 Yeah, yeah, they had this thing called the MVP which was like that robotic tackling dummy
03:15 Um, and we always use that it was kind of like I guess you could say invented there by the engineering program
03:21 And I thought it was actually pretty beneficial because one you're not banging against your own guys all the time
03:26 And two you kind of teaches you more body control because you can't really see the wheels on the bottom and that thing will just stop
03:31 On a dime and you'll learn not to whiff as much so definitely helps with your own body control
03:37 But also like with injury prevention and stuff like that
03:43 No, not like that that was definitely a fun drive to see so not nothing nothing in a live game like that
03:49 Mention Todd grant them one of the things that he's spoken about is not only coaching to the unit but coaching to the individual
03:57 Has that been impactful for you? Oh, yeah, he he looks at us. He doesn't take a cookie cutter approach
04:04 He looks at each as individuals with different strengths and weaknesses
04:08 And he knows how to attack different things and coach the individual player to his strengths and work on his weaknesses
04:14 So that's totally true. He does a great job at it
04:16 What are some of the things that he kind of keyed in on with you in terms of things to build on that were already?
04:21 Strengths for you. Um, just using my size and my recognition to attack different things in different angles
04:27 For me I like different inside moves and counters so he teach me how to really set them up and sell them in the past game
04:35 Thank you so much
04:37 Thank you so much.